The Prosthesis Bank of the province of Buenos Aires reduced to 15 days the waiting time to access elements that allow complex heart operations to be carried out at the Sor María Ludovica Children’s Hospital in La Plata. In 2022, 75 patients received their prosthesis in record time. Before they had to wait almost a year to get it.
“The Ministry of Health guarantees the right to access these essential elements through the Centralized Prosthesis Bank, which, since its implementation, implies an unprecedented event in our province, as is shortening waiting times, which every day is transformed into more and better health”highlighted the director of Buenos Aires Hospitals, Juan Riera.
Thanks to the rapid provision of the Prosthesis Bank, it was possible to resolve the cardiology intervention needed by the small patients in less time, called “ductus closure”. It is a conduit that connects blood vessels and the heart during fetal life that must close naturally when the baby is born.
Sor María Ludovica is the only provincial hospital that performs this intervention. In 2022, 193 procedures were performed, of which 158 were therapeutic and 75 required prostheses for surgery. In years prior to the Bank’s implementation, it could take up to a year to get that essential element.
Having the prosthesis in less time, from the request of the material to its use, also allows scheduling an intervention date when patients are referred, which improves their quality of life, prognosis, and medical and family care.
The Government of the province of Buenos Aires created in November 2021 the first Bank of Prosthetics and Orthotics that works in Buenos Aires public hospitals for patients who need these elements to access quickly and free of charge, thanks to public health coverage.
